Bio Brain Buddies

Great news! Scientists have made fascinating breakthroughs in understanding Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD), focusing on a specific gene called Contactin-associated protein-like 2 (CNTNAP2).

🔬 What We Found: Researchers found that changes in the CNTNAP2 gene are linked to ASD. But here's the kicker: they've figured out how this gene gets "cut up" in the body, which is crucial for its function.

💡 Why It Matters: Think of it like this – imagine your gene is a recipe, and enzymes are the chefs chopping it up. Turns out, there are special chefs responsible for chopping CNTNAP2. When they don't do their job right due to gene changes, it can lead to ASD.

🧠 What We Learned from Mice: By studying special mice with ASD-like traits, scientists saw that when these chopping chefs aren't working properly, the mice show behaviors like repeating actions and having trouble with social stuff.

🔍 What's Next: This discovery is super exciting because it gives us new ideas for treatments! By understanding how these gene changes affect the chopping process, scientists hope to develop therapies that could improve the lives of people with ASD.

🌈 Let's Spread Hope: Every step forward in understanding ASD brings us closer to helping those who are affected. Let's keep supporting research and spreading awareness together!

Got questions or thoughts about this cool discovery? Drop them in the comments below! Let's keep the conversation going. 💙

Ref: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/38424048/

Family Presence Boosts Sleep Quality in Heart Patients! 🛌💓

Exciting findings from a recent study shed light on how increasing family members' presence can positively impact the sleep status of patients with acute coronary syndrome (ACS) in the cardiac care unit.

🔍 Study Details: Researchers conducted a randomized controlled trial with 90 ACS patients. One group received standard care, while the other had their family members' presence increased from 1 hour to 2 hours per day from the second to the fourth day of admission.

✨ Key Findings: Patients in the intervention group experienced significantly better sleep throughout the study compared to those in the control group. This suggests that the extended presence of family members can enhance both the quality and quantity of sleep for ACS patients.

🌟 Takeaway: The study underscores the importance of social support and companionship in healthcare settings, highlighting how the simple act of having loved ones nearby can positively impact patients' well-being, including their sleep quality.

Have you noticed the influence of social connections on your health or the health of your loved ones? Share your thoughts and experiences below! Let's continue exploring the fascinating links between support systems and health outcomes.

Very cool diagram on the major gene-causing cancer elaborated by Mohammad Khazeni. Very well summarised

Listening to music can change the way the brain behaves and can increase cognitive ability and improve learning.

The Impact of Music on the Brain: Unleashing the Power of Melodies Explore the captivating world of music and the brain as we unravel its impact on emotions, cognition, and brain health. Discover how music enhances cognitive function, boosts emotional well-being, and nurtures brain development from childhood to aging. Unleash the power of music in shaping our brain...

Our cognitive function, including memory, can be affected by changes in the brain as we grow older. However, we can take steps to slow down this decline and keep our brains healthy.

One important factor in age-related cognitive decline is a decrease in neuroplasticity, the brain's ability to adapt and change over time. Research shows that mentally stimulating activities can maintain and even increase neuroplasticity in older adults (Park and Bischof, 2013; Seidler et al., 2010). This suggests that challenging your brain through activities such as puzzles, reading, and learning a new skill can help maintain cognitive function.

Social isolation and loneliness have also been linked to cognitive decline in older adults, as well as an increased risk of dementia (Shankar et al., 2013; Kuiper et al., 2018). Engaging with others through social activities, volunteering, or joining a club can help maintain cognitive function and reduce the risk of cognitive decline.

In addition, a healthy diet rich in fruits, vegetables, and whole grains has been associated with better cognitive function in older adults (Morris et al., 2015). Exercise is also important for maintaining cognitive function, with studies showing that physical activity can improve memory performance and increase neuroplasticity in older adults (Erickson et al., 2015; Voelcker-Rehage and Niemann, 2013).

In summary, maintaining a healthy lifestyle that includes mentally stimulating activities, social engagement, a healthy diet, and regular exercise can all help protect the brain and slow down cognitive decline as we age.

Follow our BioBrainBuddies page for more interesting facts!

Hey everyone!

We just released a new YouTube short exploring the science behind inner monologue and how it activates the same brain regions and physical responses as speaking aloud. According to research, when we engage in inner monologue or "subvocalization," our brains activate the same neural pathways as when we speak aloud, including activating Broca's area, which is involved in speech articulation. Scientists have even been able to use this phenomenon to develop technologies that can interpret these subvocalizations and translate them into written text.

This means that speaking and thinking are more closely linked than we thought, and our inner monologue is a form of communication that should not be underestimated. So next time you catch yourself talking to yourself in your head, remember that you're engaging in a powerful form of communication that has the same impact on your body as if you were speaking aloud.

Check out the full video here: https://youtube.com/shorts/J_jjDWvddTc?feature=share

We hope you enjoy it and don't forget to share your thoughts in the comments below! 🧠💭

Is your inner voice, just a inner voice? This is our first proper biobrainbuddies shorts so I hope you like it! If you want more and perfer this style of content let us know and we will keep doing t...

Hi guys! BioBrainBuddies is back with a new video on Long-Term Potentiation and how that leads to memory formation!

LTP is the mechanism that leads to the strengthening of synaptic connections between neurons within the brain. This happens because of the brain's ability to reform its neurons (either short-term or long-term); an ability called neuroplasticity. Memories are strengthened in two phases which we explain in this video, through early and late LTP.

Are you curious about your own mind and how it works? 🧠
How can the brain ‘change’?
How are stronger connections made between neurons?
How does this help consolidate memories and aid recall?

Sorry for the long wait since the last video, it's been a hectic year, but finally, the video is here! Please leave a like and comment any questions you have! We also appreciate any feedback you have for us!
https://youtu.be/KyQUBukwwO8

Memory and Learning: Long-Term Potentiation (LTP) In this video, we will explain long-term potentiation as a physiological mechanism of learning and memory, and then we will discuss the differences between b...

We Premier live TODAY at 1pm 🧠

[Video Release] Today on YouTube at 13:00 GMT. ✨

[Link] https://youtu.be/KyQUBukwwO8
Thumbnail is below for recognition! ✨

[Topic] Learning and Memory: Early and Late LTP ✨

💭I don’t know about you, but when I was learning about neuroplasticity during my undergraduate degree, I was MIND boggled about the temporal/time difference between early LTP and short-term memory and Late LTP and long-term memory! 🕰

So we’ve made it easier for you 😉
We’ve split the video into two sections: one explaining early LTP and the last section explaining how late LTP differs!

Enjoy learning!

This neuroscience video will help you to understand the structures/anatomy and the functions of the hippocampus located within the medial temporal lobe of the limbic system. The trisynaptic circuity is the pathway of memory transmission in the hippocampus which is explained in the video.

The hippocampus is part of the hippocampal formation which includes the dentate gyrus, parahippocampal gyrus, and hippocampal gyrus. The hippocampal gyrus contains areas such as the entorhinal cortex and subiculum, which are both vital in the flow of information through the hippocampus.

The hippocampus is divided into CA1 to CA4 regions which stands for cornu ammonis. This is the area of the brain which has a very important role in memory due to the high levels of NMDA glutamatergic receptors located in the CA1 Schaffer collateral neurons. The synaptic plasticity of these neurons heavily relies on long-term potentiation (LTP) induction to allow the strengthening of declarative memory (which includes two types of implicit memory such as episodic and semantic memory – Facts and events).

The trisynaptic circuit receives sensory input from the cortical regions of the brain which enters via the entorhinal cortex. This projects via the perforant pathway to the dentate gyrus, then to the CA3 region via the mossy fiber pathway to future travel to the CA3 neurons through the Schaffer collateral pathway. Finally, this signal is outputted from the subiculum to the rest of the various areas of the brain such as the Fornix (which can loop back to the entorhinal cortex).

If the sensory input is very strong and is repeated multiple times, LTP will be induced to increase synaptic connections. This allows the trisynaptic system to occur more rapidly next time.

What is the hippocampus? What does the Hippocampus do? Where does Memory and Learning occur in the brain? What is the hippocampus structure? Where is the hippocampus located? What is the function of the hippocampus? What does the hippocampus mean? How does your memory work?

We will answer all this in this video so let us know how we do!

Copyright Mentions:
• Xu, X., Sun, Y., Holmes, T. and López, A., 2016. Noncanonical connections between the subiculum and hippocampal CA1. Journal of Comparative Neurology, 524(17), pp.3666-3673.
• Henry Gray (1918) Anatomy of the Human Body Book
• Medical Dictionary 2011. Hippocampus (Online). Available: https://medicine.academic.ru/3923/Hip... (Accessed 31 March 2020).
• Hippocampal Neurons Image by Dr. Wutian Wu Affiliatio: CTO, Re-Stem Biotechnology, Suzhou, China -nikonsmallworld

Hi Guys,

We are working on our transcript for the upcoming video on Long-Term Potentiation which will explain this complex diagram in a clear and concise way!

This will cover everything you need to know about how memory truly is strengthened and how the brain decides that it is important enough to remember.

Stay Tuned!

Hey Guys, we (Tahmid and Chanel) have started a Neuroscience YouTube channel to help spread education to the masses - called BioBrainBuddies short for BBB (any biologists will know this is short for blood-brain-barrier, 😉😂a nerdy joke we came up)

This will be one of many videos! We aim to deliver short, informative, and succinct snippets of information on a topic that perhaps you haven’t learned about before! This video is about the hippocampus and its role in memory. It explains the trisynpatic system which is the pathway in which sensory signals travel to strengthen memory.

Let me know what you think so that we can improve for our next video which will be on Long-term Potentiation! We would really appreciate it to get us started!

Memory and the Hippocampus This neuroscience video will help you to understand the structures/anatomy and the functions of the hippocampus located within the media...